Agenda and minutes

Any substitute members should declare their substitution.

Councillor Kevin Boram substituted for Councillor Stephen Chipp, the Vice-Chair, who chaired the meeting.

Members and Officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

Members and Officers may seek advice upon any relevant interest from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by midday on Thursday 1 July 2021.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services –

democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk  

(Note: Public Question Time will last for a maximum of 30 minutes)

There were no questions raised under Public Question Time.

To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings of the Committee held on 7June 2021, which have been emailed to Members.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 7 June 2021 be confirmed as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

To consider any items the Chair of the meeting considers urgent.

There were no items raised under urgency provisions.

To consider the reports by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 6.

The planning applications were considered, see attached appendix.

None to report.

There were none to report.

To consider a report by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 8.

As Councillor Kevin Boram had registered to speak on the enforcement report, he did not take part in the consideration of the matter and sat in the public gallery.

The Head of Planning and Development introduced the report which referred to a complaint in connection with lack of appropriate flood defences and landscaping at Mariners Point, 79-81 Brighton Road, Shoreham. 

With the assistance of photographs and diagrams, the Officer ran through the key areas of concern in detail for Committee Members’ consideration which were also set out within the report. 

Officers were pleased the developer had accepted the issues raised however,  wondered why during the development they had not returned to the Council to seek amendments to the scheme.  Nevertheless, the Councils had an agreement to deal with the outstanding works and the recommendation was that Officers formalise that with a Breach of Condition Notice (BCN) which would require the works to be undertaken.  

The Officer referred to the lack of landscaping along the frontage and within the site, in particular, the planters which were not sturdy and it was felt would in time decay.  It had been agreed that more robust planters would be installed with additional planting.  As to the lack of landscaping along the front and rear of the site, the Officer produced plans received from the applicant indicating the position of a number of new trees. 

The Chairman felt that as it was not a planning application being considered, the Committee Members should hear and consider the representations from the  registered speakers first before taking questions from Members on the report and debate.

There were further representations from Councillor Kevin Boram, Councillor Catherine Arnold and a representative who spoke on behalf of residents at Mariners Point.

To summarise, during debate, Members shared their concerns with the flood defence defects and were not happy to compromise on the number of trees planted.  They felt that additional tree planting should be undertaken to the rear of the site, together with other opportunities for landscaping wherever possible and should be in consultation with the residents at Mariners Point.

Decision

The Committee Members unanimously ENDORSED the Officer’s recommendation that a Breach of Condition be served to require the developer to rectify the breaches of conditions 21, 33 and 34 listed in the report in order to ensure that the development is safe from flooding and outstanding planting is undertaken.  However, on the proviso  there was consultation with the residents of the development in connection with the proposed landscaping at the front and rear of the site.

To consider a report by the Director for the Economy, attached as Item 9.

Councillor Kevin Boram returned to the meeting to consider the final item on the agenda.

The Head of Planning and Development outlined the report for Members and advised the main reason it appeared on the agenda was due to the government’s response to the Future Homes Standard and the new interim uplift, and to ensure it reflected the latest Worthing amendments. The Officer advised the Worthing Policy Team had just submitted the new Worthing Local Plan for independent examination to the Secretary of State.

Decision

The Committee Members AGREED there were no specific comments to be forwarded to the Executive Member for Regeneration before he approved the Adur Planning and Climate Change Checklist to be published online and used as a material consideration when determining any relevant planning applications.  However, it should be noted that Councillor Boram was keen to understand the relationship between the Sustainability Checklist and the Energy SPD relating to the Western Harbour Arm. 

The Committee Members also noted that the review of the Adur Local Plan will in time supersede this checklist and of course will need to be amended to accord with changing national planning policies and guidance.